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"Was there some one here?" he inquired of the attendant in the outer office, who was visible through the open door. "Yas, suh," replied the boy, "a young cullud 'oman wuz in jes' now, axin' fer de doctuh." Tryon felt a momentary touch of annoyance that a negro woman should have intruded herself into his dream at its most interesting point.
"Dat's all a lie, doctuh," he whispered, "'bout de operation bein' already pe'fo'med. Dey-all had jes' gone in de minute befo' you come Doctuh Price hadn' even got out 'n de room. Dey be'n quollin' 'bout you fer de las' ha'f hour.
"Dat's Mis' Miller, ma'am," returned the coachman, touching his hat; "Doctuh Miller's wife." "What was her mother's name?" "Her mother's name wuz Julia Brown. She's be'n dead dese twenty years er mo'. Why, you knowed Julia, Mis' Polly! she used ter b'long ter yo' own father befo' de wah; an' after de wah she kep' house fer" "Look to your horses, William!" exclaimed Mrs. Carteret sharply.
Descending the doorsteps, he stood for a moment, undecided whether to return home or to go to the hotel and await the return of Dr. Burns, when he heard his name called from the house in a low tone. "Oh, doctuh!" He stepped back toward the door, outside of which stood the colored servant who had just let him out.
A repeated rapping brought no response. At length he broke a window, and entered the house like a thief. "Janet, Janet!" he called in alarm, "where are you? It is only I, Will!" There was no reply. He ran from room to room, only to find them all empty. Again he called his wife's name, and was about rushing from the house, when a muffled voice came faintly to his ear, "Is dat you, Doctuh Miller?"
He had not been willing to throw his life away hopelessly, but he would cheerfully have sacrificed it for those whom he loved. He had gone but a short distance, and had not yet reached the centre of mob activity, when he intercepted a band of negro laborers from the cotton compress, with big Josh Green at their head. "Hello, doctuh!" cried Josh, "does you wan' ter jine us?"
"Now look a-hyuh, Doctuh Price," returned the old woman in an unctuous whisper, "you don' wanter come talkin' none er yo' foolishness 'bout my not takin' keer er Mis' 'Livy. She never would 'a' said sech a thing! Seven er eight mont's ago, w'en she sent fer me, I says ter her, says I: "'Lawd, Lawd, honey!
Majah Ca'te'et say he wouldn' have you, an' de No'then doctuh say he wouldn't do nothin' widout you, an' Doctuh Price he j'ined in on bofe sides, an' dey had it hot an' heavy, nip an' tuck, till bimeby Majah Ca'te'et up an' say it wa'n't altogether yo' color he objected to, an' wid dat de No'then doctuh give in. He's a fine man, suh, but dey wuz too much fer 'im!"
"De doctuh, suh," he replied politely to Carteret's question, "has gone ter ampitate de ahm er a gent'eman who got one er his bones smashed wid a pistol bullet in de fightin' dis atternoon, suh. He's jes' gone, suh, an' lef' wo'd dat he'd be gone a' hour er mo', suh." Carteret hastened homeward. He could think of no other available physician.
He wuz a big man en wuz de strongest man neah dat part ob de kuntry. He wouldin' 'low nobody ter whup 'in. De Marster framed 'im by tellin' 'im ter bring his saddle hoss en w'en he kum wid de hoss several men 'peahrd en tole Fedd dat dey wuz gonna whup 'im. He struck one ob de mans so hahd dey had ter hab de doctuh. De Marster said let 'im 'lone he's too strong ter be whup'd.
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